The largest international film festival in Singapore, SIFF has become significant in the Singapore arts landscape because of its dynamic film programming and commitment to the development of film culture and local cinema. The Festival screens over 200 films annually of all genres, with a focus on groundbreaking Asian cinema. Under the umbrella of the Silver Screen Awards, SIFF recognizes excellence in Asian cinema with its three awards categories � Asian Film Competition, Singapore Short Film Competition and the Singapore Film Awards introduced in 2009.





The 23rd edition of the Singapore International Film Festival will be held 15-24 April 2010.





SIFF is a non-profit registered charity organization.


Festival History





SIFF started in 1986 with an associated guidance of the Mill Valley Film Festival (USA) at a time when only commercial and mainstream films dominated the local cinemas. Up to 2007, SIFF was led by its three Festival Directors, Philip Cheah, Lesley Ho and Teo Swee Leng, who also acted as Board Members, together with the festival founder Geoffrey Malone. In 2007, after the 20th edition, to usher in the Festival�s 21st year, Jasmine Ng was appointed the new Board Member and Wahyuni A. Hadi joined as Festival Manager. In 2008, Wahyuni A. Hadi and Zhang Wenjie were appointed Festival Directors. Wahyuni, Wenjie and Jasmine left the Festival in 2009. The current Festival Board Members are Philip Cheah, Geoffrey Malone and Kirpal Singh.





The Festival became competitive with the first Silver Screen Awards for Best Asian Feature and Best Singapore Short Film in 1991. Singapore became the first international Asian film festival to have a specific Asian film competition. In 1994, the Festival dedicated itself to the cinema of Southeast Asia beginning with a retrospective of Prince Chatri Chalerm Yukol (who, in 2001, made the epic film The Legend of Suriyothai). The Festival has since featured a different Asian director from Cherd Songsri, Hussein Haniff to Mario O�Hara. In 1997, the Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary by screening rare Singapore films, including the important first screening of Peter Bogdanovich�s St. Jack and paid tribute to the Cathay Keris Studios� Malay films. In 2001, the Festival presented the very first retrospective of Thai film director Apitchatpong Weerasethakul�s films. The Festival spotlighted the rising tide of Arab cinema and featured the digital feature revolution of the Philippines in 2006. Singapore cinema was spotlighted in 2008 with the launch of the Festival�s new section, Singapore Panorama. In 2009, the inaugural Singapore Film Awards is introduced under the umbrella of the Silver Screen Awards.